Casa Lespagnol is a minimal residence located in Leiria, Portugal, designed by Tiago Clerigo. Casa Lespagnol is a rehabilitation that arose from the need to adapt an existing house to the new ways of inhabiting the domestic space. Built in 1964, by the architect Camilo Korrodi, the house preserves all the elements of the original project, as a result of the owner’s intention to shelter the memories of the spaces, emphasizing the pre-existing and keeping the original design. Respecting the structure of the house and most of the functions of each compartment, it was always with references to the existing materials that the intervention took shape.

The main goal of the intervention was, therefore, to preserve the atmospheres of the spaces, aiming to redefine the communication between the two floors and accentuate the relationship of the interior and the exterior spaces, making it more enjoyable. In rehabilitation, it is understood that the project must consider the relationship between the existing and the new interventions, finding a meaning and creating a structure in harmony. It was with reference to the cabinets design of the initial project that new elements were introduced, in balance and contrast with the existing materials, capable of adapting to the different functions of the spaces.

Studio Tiago Clérigo arises from the need to develop a practice based on thoughts and aesthetics that have been deepened and broadened over the years. It looks to Architecture as an instrument that emerges from the dialogue, in a thought that is believed to be simple and pragmatic in the construction of it: an ongoing dialogue between the new and the existing with a full understanding of the user’s needs.

Photography by hu.photography